At what point can you cut the tie between your cellphone and your phone company? An online petition has just raised enough signatures to get the White House to take a second look at whether unlocking a cellphone, that is, switching the phone from one carrier to another, should be against the law.

Officials say unlocking violates the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, the same way people are not supposed to break into copy protection systems for movies or music.

Slate Tech blogger Will Oremus joins Marketplace Tech host David Brancaccio to explain the pros and cons of cellphone unlocking.